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“Censor Board Was Fair & Democratic”: Pro-DMK Propaganda Film ‘Parasakthi’ Director Sudha Kongara Says Amid TVK & Congress Crying Foul Over Jana Nayagan’s Censor Certificate Delay

By
The Commune
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The postponement of Vijay’s Jana Nayagan has triggered widespread anger and disappointment among fans, with the delay increasingly being framed as a censorship battle rather than a routine production setback. The issue has also reignited debates around selective outrage, especially after filmmaker Sudha Kongara publicly praised the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for its “democratic” approach to censoring her upcoming film Parasakthi.

Speaking about her experience with the CBFC’s revising committee, Sudha Kongara said the censor board had been fair, democratic, and respectful of the filmmaking process. She stated that the questions raised and reservations expressed by the board were reasonable and that the film was allowed to “live and breathe.” She also described the CBFC head who oversaw the revising committee as a filmmaker himself and said she thanked him for being democratic. Kongara added that she considered her entire life’s struggle to be centred around democracy and said she became agitated when democracy was throttled.

She said, “… mostly you can cut it off. But even with the censor board, when we went for the revising committee, there was this censor board head who was so democratic, who was so fair and…
This is part of the process, like. But I mean, one tends to think the censor board is like terrible, they’re this, they’re that. They were not, really. The questions they had, the reservations they had were pretty… I would say fair. And the way they’ve allowed the film to live, breathe is very fair, because he’s a filmmaker himself. So he was great to me and I actually stood up at the end of it all and I said, ‘Thank you for being so democratic.’ I… I’m a big believer of democracy. When that is throttled, I just… I become very agitated. My entire fight, my entire life has been about that.”

Her remarks have gained attention in the context of Jana Nayagan, which is facing delays reportedly linked to certification-related issues. Vijay’s fans, including Dravidianists many of whom had begun planning large-scale celebrations under the assumption that the film would be marketed as his “last film,” expressed anger over the postponement, accusing the CBFC and unnamed external pressures of disrupting what they viewed as a festival-like release.

Social media platforms have been flooded with posts expressing a sense of betrayal and frustration, with fans blaming institutions rather than the actor or his team. Several fan accounts and commentary channels have portrayed Vijay as a victim of institutional overreach, arguing that the delay reflects a broader pattern of censorship and misuse of power against certain filmmakers and stars.

The delay in censor certificate has reportedly caused the film’s release to be postponed indefinitely.

Here are some reactions from Dravidianists & Vijay fans.

Sudha Kongara’s praise of the CBFC seems to stand in stark contrast to the claims that the censor board functions uniformly as an oppressive or anti-democratic institution, reportedly as an extension of the central government, given the fact that Vijay has entered politics and labelled the BJP as his ideological adversary.

Congress MP Breaks Bangles Over ‘Censorship’

As mentioned, several Dravidianists were breaking bangles over the alleged vendetta behind the delayed release of censor certificate. Among them was Congress MP Manickam Tagore. In a post on his X handle, he wrote, “When RSS propaganda films get zero traction, zero credibility & zero public interest, the Modi–Shah regime responds with control, not confidence. Now the film industry is in the crosshairs. Article 19(1)(a) guarantees freedom of speech & expression. But under I&B Minister @AshwiniVaishnaw this right is being systematically weakened through fear, not law. ED, CBI, IT — turned into frontal organs to silence dissent. Now even the Censor Board is being weaponised to control cinema and ideas. Institutions meant to protect democracy are reduced to tools of intimidation, while BJP-RSS propaganda is passed off as “culture”. Cinema doesn’t need political clearance. It needs constitutional protection. Democracy cannot survive when art is forced to kneel before power.” 

When films from the so-called ‘right wing’ faced censor cuts and delays, such voices were never heard complaining about “political clearance” and what not.

These Dravidianists and Vijay fans were missing when a film like Thug Life which had a distasteful, sleazy narrative arc was a U/A (16+) certificate with only two minor mutings of cuss words by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) thereby allowing it easy access to theatrical releases, satellite deals, and OTT platforms.

In contrast, Paramasivan Fathima, directed and produced by a relatively lesser-known filmmaker, offers a strong cultural commentary on the impact of religious conversions in rural Tamil Nadu. Drawing inspiration from the Periyapuranam, the film critically examines how missionary activity—often disguised as charity—can erode familial and cultural structures in Tamil society. It also highlights the contradiction of Christian institutions receiving state aid while openly promoting religious indoctrination.

Despite addressing serious societal issues without any explicit vulgarity or gory violence, Paramasivan Fathima received an ‘A’ certificate, limiting its theatrical scope, blocking its access to major satellite and OTT deals, and severely affecting the producer’s financial prospects.

Given the way a filmmaker like Sudha Kongara, who makes Dravidianist-leaning films, speaks highly of the CBFC, the outrage over the delay in certifying what is being projected as Vijay’s final film and its framing as political vendetta is laughable.

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